Hi I'm after any info about the Palabuhan Ratu area (Cimaja etc). I've done a forum search and the waves sound fun but google tells me it might not be a great place if you don't surf. I'm going with a non-surfing girlfriend so any information would be handy? What are the beaches like? Are there sights worth seeing within reach? I've got three weeks so was just planning to head there as less crowded than elsewhere in Indo? Any help gratefully received!

I recently went there with the wife and young child, and they seemed to enjoy it. The areas a poplular place for Jakarta residents to escape for weekends, so it gets busy over weekends but most of them disapear back on Sundays. Cimaja's a super fun wave. Theres plenty of accomodation options also. It's worth noting that it's quite a long trip over windy bumpy roads to most of the other spots in the region (turtles etc), however close they seem to be on a map.

As far as other activities goes, there's some hot springs (with heated swimming pool), a cave with Bats and the fish market's worth a look. Also pig hunting and sport fishing to if your girlfreinds into that sort of stuff. It's certainly no Bali as far as tourist activities go, it is much cheaper though.

The beaches are ok-ish, the areas fairly well populated and theres a bit of pollution about the place, lots of fishing boats around too and some places smell a bit fishy. Nothing too bad though.

Thanks for the response -really useful. On the map all the spots seem close by but then I was reading it's 2-3 hour drive + to Ujung Genteng. Would you recommend staying in Cimaja -anywhere in particular?

I stayed at http://www.oceanqueenresort.com/. It's nice but is about 20 minutes by scooter from cimaja. There is a wave right beside it but it's pretty poor (theres a big rock island right in the middle of where the wave should break). I think next time round I'd try and stay closer to cimaja, there's a few hotels much closer which looked ok. I think early morning surfs are the way to go for cimaja.

In fact if I were to go back I think I'd split my time, a couple of weeks in cimaja, and a couple of weeks around Unjung Genteng.